| About Paid Search and Getting Started |
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While natural search refers to all unpaid search results based on relevance, paid search refers to all pay-for-placement
results. On Google, for instance, the paid search results appear on the far-right column labelled "Sponsored Links". For affiliates
practicing paid search, those "sponsored links" - or advertisements - generate commissions in one of two ways: 1) the advertisement
links to a publisher's Web domain where affiliate links and banners direct users to eBay; or 2) the publisher embeds his or
her tracking ID within the advertisement and links directly to eBay.com.au or an eBay.ca search results page. By sending traffic
directly to targeted eBay.com.au pages, the latter ensures that users arrive at eBay; furthermore, this method does not even
require affiliates to own Web domains!
Paid search services like Google typically sell listings on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis - this is also referred to as
pay-per-click (PPC). In CPC or PPC programs, advertisers pay for each click-through on a pay-for-placement advertisement.
How much does a click cost? Paid search affiliates "bid" on placements by declaring maximum bid amounts; those with the highest
bids are usually listed highest. Advertisers will never be charged more than the declared maximum and, when there are no competing
bids, will automatically be charged the minimum amount (which ranges between $0.01 and $0.10, depending upon the PPC program).
- the advertisement links to a publisher's Web domain where affiliate links and banners direct users to eBay; or
- the publisher embeds his or her tracking ID within the advertisement and links directly to eBay.com or an eBay.ca search
results page. By sending traffic directly to targeted eBay.com pages, the latter ensures that users arrive at eBay; furthermore,
this method does not even require affiliates to own Web domains!
Paid search services like Google typically sell listings on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis - this is also referred to as
pay-per-click (PPC). In CPC or PPC programs, advertisers pay for each click-through on a pay-for-placement advertisement.
How much does a click cost? Paid search affiliates "bid" on placements by declaring maximum bid amounts; those with the highest
bids are usually listed highest. Advertisers will never be charged more than the declared maximum and, when there are no competing
bids, will automatically be charged the minimum amount (which ranges between $0.01 and $0.10, depending upon the PPC program).
If you are new to paid search and seek more detailed information, we encourage you to visit the following pages:
In addition to "naming your price," you are able to selectively target their audiences. By controlling which keywords your
ads appear alongside, you only reach relevant users. PPC engines like Google and Overture give advertisers nearly unlimited
control of targeted keywords using "matching" categories. The following are "matching" types offered by Google:
Broad match
Simply enter your keyword: cell phone
The ad appears when users search on the
keywords cell and phone, regardless of other search terms used or of the order in which they are entered.
Exact match
Use brackets around your keyword: [cell phone]
Ad appears when users search only
on the phrase cell phone. Ad will not show if cell phone service is searched.
Phrase match
Use quotes around your keyword: "cell phone"
Ad appears when a phrase incorporating
cell phone is searched for. Ad will show for lightweight cell phone but not for cell lightweight phone.
Negative keyword
Use a dash before your keyword: -Motorola
If your keyword is mobile phone
and your negative keyword is -Motorola, your ad will not show if a user searches on Motorola mobile phone, mobile phone Nokia
Motorola, etc.
- There are many benefits to paid search - many of which have been outlined above:
- Easy implementation
- Does not require changes to your Web site (you don't even need a Web site!)
- Unlimited number or variety of keywords
- Ability to turn campaign on or off
- Precise control of advertisement, landing page, price, and message
- Easy to test efficacy of various components (landing page, price, etc) and easy to change your ads respectively
- Access to millions of potential customers who are now just a click away
- Ability to cap daily spend and maximum bid prices
- Potential to significantly increase eBay.ca commissions to upwards of $10,000 each month
- Though the benefits of paid search can be tremendous, there are certain elements of paid search that advertisers should
be aware of:
- Paid search can be time intensive and manual
- Paid search can be costly if not managed carefully
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Guiding Principles - 8 Steps Toward
Effective PPC Marketing |
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Understand your Metrics - Particularly ROI
In paid search, there are several key terms; but ultimately, none is more important than ROI:
| Acronym |
Definition |
| ROI |
Return on Investment |
| CPA |
Cost Per Acquisition |
| CPC |
Cost Per Click |
| CTR |
Click Through Rates |
| EPC |
Earning Per Click |
There are many useful metrics available to better analyse and monitor PPC campaigns; in the end though, their greatest
use is in understanding the ROI. Monitoring campaigns solely by traffic, impressions, or clicks can be dangerous. Remember
also that ROI will vary based upon keyword(s), ad position, PPC platform, time/day, and other variables. Consequently, it
is important to track each variable and its effect on overall ROI?bringing us to Guiding Principle #2:
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Track and Test
The key to successful PPC advertising is twofold: track and test. PPC platforms like Google, Overture and others enable
advertisers to monitor all aspects of each campaign through robust reporting applications. Tracking ad ranks/positions, CPC,
click-throughs, and other important metrics are easy with these platforms. Furthermore, comprehensive tracking and analysis
is critical to understanding and improving your campaign ROI.
Testing various campaign elements is equally important. With PPC platforms, it is easy to identify which ad copy, landing
pages, and ad positions work best. The following guidelines are excellent starting points:
- Ad Copy
- Explain what's in it for the customer
- Use action-oriented language - "Buy", "Sign Up", "eBay" etc
- Avoid fluffy language. Remember, you have a character limit - use it wisely
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- Landing Pages
- Visit our Landing Page Best Practices for detailed information
- Make sure that each landing page directly correlates to its respective advertisement
- Ad Positions
- Carefully monitor your ad position, CPC, and CTR
- Typically higher positioning equates to higher CTR and higher CPC
- Evaluate which positions deliver the greatest CTR and whether it is worth the incremental cost
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- Day-Parting
- Certain keywords or campaigns perform considerably better during certain parts of the day, week, or month. In these situations,
affiliates have benefited greatly from "day-parting": the practice of raising CPC bids to effectively emphasise creatives
during particular hours, days, or weeks. If, for instance, your keywords convert 300% better during 7-9PM EST, you might increase
your CPC bids so that your creatives will appear in higher positions during those hours. Day-parting can be achieved in three
ways: 1) using a third-party tool, 2) writing an advanced script to adjust bids, or 3) manually adjusting bids. The third
option is time-intensive and is typically not optimal.
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Ultimately, the goal of tracking and testing is to determine which campaign elements return the highest ROI and to duplicate
those elements throughout each of your campaigns.
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Segment Keyword Groups and Campaigns
As noted above, tracking and testing are essential elements of effective and efficient paid search advertising. Tracking
and testing, however, can be difficult and burdensome for large keyword lists that can reach into the thousands.
By segmenting keyword groups and ad campaigns by specific variables (keyword, creative, maximum CPC, landing page, etc),
advertisers are able to isolate each variable and determine what is effective. This insight can then be applied to the other
segments and hopefully be used to increase overall ROI. When keyword lists are not segmented, for instance, the data becomes
overwhelming and it becomes difficult to target which variables influence which metrics!
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Utilize "2nd Tier" PPC Engines
Google and Overture are easily the largest PPC engines. They draw the most advertisers and they reach the most users; however,
because of the crowded landscape, Google and Overture typically carry very high costs per click. There are several smaller
("2nd tier") PPC platforms that, despite have smaller audience reaches, provide similar click through rates (CTR) with substantially
lower costs per click. Moreover, these smaller PPC services frequently provide personalised customer-service which enable
advertisers to reach traffic from different, untapped communities. A paid search best practice is to complement your Google
and Overture campaigns with PPC advertising on the smaller platforms (see the list below for a sample of available PPC services).
The benefits can be tremendous: lower CPC, higher CTR, increased market penetration and site traffic, and increased ACRUs
and commissions!
Available PPC services (listed alphabetically):
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Utilize Untargeted, Niche Keywords
Identifying relevant and effective keywords is often straightforward. For example, imagine the fictional affiliate Golfers-Equipment.com.
Relevant keywords and phrases for this company would be golf clubs and Callaway driver. These keywords, however, might have
high CPC rates because they are rather general and probably have numerous other companies bidding on them.
It is possible, however, to avoid crowds (and high CPCs) by identifying niche keywords and phrases. Although misspellings,
unique synonyms, and clever phrases deliver less traffic, they generally have very high CTRs with very low CPCs. Again using
Golfers-Equipment.com as an example, the affiliate might consider complementing the more general keywords by bidding on the
following "niche" ones: Caloway driver, Calloway wood, golfing clubs, golfers clubs, golfing irons, etc.
PPC platforms like Google and Overture offer tools such as the Keyword Suggestion Tool and the Search Suggestion Tool,
respectively. By inputting keywords into these tools, the PPC engine will output variations and related permutations of your
words and phrases. These are excellent tools to expand your keyword reach and utilize niche keywords.
Using different keyword matches (such as broad match, exact match, and phrase match) is an excellent way to target niche
words. Likewise, utilizing negative keywords prevents superfluous, untargeted results. Consider, for instance, an affiliate
that markets cruise vacations; they might bid on island cruise, Alaskan Cruise, or even cruise. They would also want to use
negative keywords to disassociate any search with Tom Cruise ( -Tom).
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Understand Your Competitive Landscape
Competition plays a critical role in PPC advertising because marketers essentially "bid" for ad placements. Understanding
the competitive nature of particular PPC segments is crucial in formulating campaign metrics (CPC, CPA, ROI). Furthermore,
understanding how "crowded" particular keywords are enables advertisers to determine appropriate CPC rates. Meanwhile, capturing
"un-congested" keywords enables advertisers to capture low CPC and high CTR phrases.
By visiting Overture (www.overture.com), publishers can monitor the competitive landscape (number of bidders and CPC) of each keyword and phrase. All users - registered
and non-registered - are able to take advantage of this very useful feature.
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Understand the Landscape of Third-Party PPC Management Tools
We have emphasised the tremendous value of testing and tracking campaign metrics. For Web sites and companies with large
PPC campaigns, testing and tracking can become time-intensive. Moreover, running campaigns on several PPC platforms complicates
the issue: there are different CPC bids, keyword lists, campaign results, etc.
Utilizing third-party bid management and tracking tools is a great solution for affiliates feeling overwhelmed by data
and results. These tools and applications typically offer the following benefits:
- Time efficiency
- The ability to manage accounts from a single application rather than several Web-based applications
- Automated CPC bidding tools
- The ability to set bidding rules (for example, automatically increase bids during specific hours, days, and weeks)
- Enhanced metric reporting and ROI tracking
- Consolidation of campaign metrics - directly compare campaigns from various PPC platforms
Many third-party bid management and tracking applications are available. Because applications and vendors vary, it is important
to consider the following features when considering a third-party program:
- Automated bidding capabilities
- Bidding rules capabilities
- Reporting and tracking features and thoroughness
- Customer service level
- Number of supported PPC services
- Price (one-time purchase vs. monthly fee vs. revenue-based fee)
- Application software (Web-based or installed software)
If you're interested in third-party management applications, below is a list of available programs and companies (please
note that eBay.ca is not affiliated with these companies and is presenting this list without bias):
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Monitor & Understand the PPC Landscape
Paid search is a rapidly growing - and rapidly changing - industry. New services and products are introduced seemingly
on a daily basis. As a PPC advertiser, it is essential to always monitor the industry, its biggest players, and its sweeping
changes. It is important for you to keep your campaigns flexible so that, when these changes occur, you are prepared and able
to adjust appropriately!
Consider, for instance, new contextual advertisers like Google AdSense and Overture Content Match. These new PPC tools
display your PPC ads within search results shown on related Web sites (hence the name, contextual ads). AdSense and Content
Match, however, do not provide affiliates the ability to track or optimize their campaigns. Consequently, we do not recommend
using these tools.
If you have additional questions or want to do further research, the following Web sites are filled with great industry
information:
Paid search is a tremendously powerful means to improve your business and drive additional ACRUs and commissions; and if
your business model currently includes paid search, integrating these best practices is a great way to improve your ROI and
increase your ACRUs.
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